The present invention relates generally to point of sales (POS) terminals, and, more specifically, to a customer activity data system and method.
RFID technology provides an alternative to bar code reader technology for distinguishing and recording items for purchase. Some of the uses of RFID technology are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,019,394 assigned to the assignee of the present invention. This patent is hereby incorporated by reference.
Price verifiers have been introduced into stores to complement point-of-sale (POS) terminals. Like POS terminals, price verifiers include a barcode reader for reading a barcode label on an item. Price verifiers determine prices from a price look-up file (PLU) file shared with the POS terminals.
Manufacturers and retailers manage the various categories of items displayed in a retail store based primarily on items sold and on quantities of items sold. This data is obtained from inventory records as products are sold.
Merchandise management information may be obtained from a price verifier. For example, a customer may use a price verifier to scan two similar products from two different manufacturers. Other activities are also possible.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,246,995 entitled, “Product Activity Data Collection System”, describes the use of a Price Verifier to enhance merchandise management in a retail store. However, without item identification information, this method produces data which is only marginally useful.
Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a system and method of collecting item activity data to improve promotion of compared items.